


Dress to Impress

by WinTTY



Series: The Dungeon Mistress [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: (she doesn't exist here), F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, Pining, Romance, battle-lesbiab steph, for a moment - Freeform, proto-gay chloe, steph also makes chloe stop functioning, steph makes chloe blush, this relationship is canon, what an heck is an rachel?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13460847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinTTY/pseuds/WinTTY
Summary: Chloe notices that Steph wears beanies, so Chloe starts wearing them too - it gets pretty chilly in October.But that's not really why Chloe starts wearing beanies.





	Dress to Impress

Chloe wasn’t ever interested in girls before.

She had a boyfriend once - Eliot - for about two months, but the dude was far too clingy and Chloe was in a bad place when they hooked up, so they broke off rather quickly.

But then Steph showed up, or rather Chloe  _noticed_ her. Steph was a bit older than Chloe and interested in things that Chloe wasn’t interested in.  _Yet._ Upon seeing her almost everyday whilst coming onto campus, she couldn’t help but smile to herself, couldn’t help that stupid -  _seriously stupid_ \- flutter of… butterflies in her stomach.

Ugh. Chloe Price was totally not into Steph, or  _any_ girl for that matter. Sure, she got off to Pris once -  _once!_ \- but...

Alright,  _maybe_ she had a thing going. She was a bit confused in that regard.

Dungeons and Dragons? Nerds game. Chloe wasn’t interested in that, but she remembered she  _was_ interested  _once_ \- years ago, when her best friend was still around and not prancing about Seattle, doing her own thing. You know, like totally ghosting her?

Yeah.

So one day, Chloe worked up the courage to approach Steph and her nerd-friend - Mikey North, brother of Drew North, one of the jocks who played for the Bigfoots. How Chloe knew all this? _Observation._ Turns out one could learn a lot about their surroundings by being a loner and not being noticed. Not being noticed _much_ anyway.

“Sup nerds?” she called out and sat herself down on the edge of the table, glancing at Mikey first, then Steph - taking a little bit longer as she focused on her.

“Hey Chloe,” Steph said and smiled, leaning down to the side to rummage in her bag.

Mikey gave her some sort of half-wave.

Truth was, Chloe was there to pick up her bootleg copy of Bladerunner -  _Director’s Cut_ nonetheless - from Steph. She was known to have ways of acquiring these things… on the down-low, for cheap too. But this gave Chloe the perfect opportunity to get closer to Steph.

“Here you go,” Steph said as she handed over a small case with the disc inside. “Bladerunner, director’s cut.”

“Sweet, how much do I owe you? $5, right?” she asked, reaching into her pocket-

“It’s free,” Steph replied with a smile. “Seriously, at least somebody appreciates the classics.”

Chloe raised her eyebrow as she looked at the disc, then Steph. “Seriously? Sweet dude, thanks,” she murmured and put the disc in one of her pockets.

Then she just sat there. Starting at Steph, who - unsurprisingly - stared back.

“Do you want to join our DnD game?” Steph quizzed, gesturing down to the board. “We have room for one more.”

Mikey panicked for a whole second before Steph gave him a calming gaze. He hummed and nodded his head, looking at Chloe briefly. “Y-yeah. We have room for one more,” he mumbled.

Chloe looked between the two, her face scrunched up in a mix of confusion and slight awkwardness. She didn’t know how to play DnD. “I don’t know how to play DnD,” she mentioned.

Steph simply smiled back. “That’s fine, it’s really simple - me and Mikey can give you a rundown, provided you promise to join?” she insisted, looking right back at Chloe.

She was looking so damn much that Chloe had to glance away for a moment to gain her composure back. “Uh. Sure. Whatever, lets do this nerds.”

Smiling even wider, Steph reached down into her bag again - pulling out a character sheet. “Here’s your character sheet, I hope you don’t mind getting a premade - it’d take too long to create a new character.”

Chloe didn’t mind.

In the moment that Steph handed over the sheet, Chloe fumbled slightly and placed her hand upon hers - immediately blushing but covering it well with an awkward cough. “Thanks,” she mumbled and looked down at the sheet.

Fuck yeah, Elf Barbarian?

That sounded… awesome!

* * *

 

Chloe became a regular. Well. Almost a regular.

Steph and Mikey held morning DnD sessions right before classes, and Chloe found herself waking up earlier and earlier to spend more time on their campaigns. Truth be told - she enjoyed hanging about with them, just like she enjoyed playing DnD. It was fun.

Callamastia, her first character - the Elf Barbarian - sacrificed herself at some point during their campaign in order to save Elamon, Mikey’s character, from death. It was heroic as fuck, she thought, and it impressed Steph and Mikey both.

But Chloe was more interested in impressing Steph alone.

She made a new character, appropriately called Chloe, who was similar to Callamastia - an Elf and a Barbarian. Basically, she  _was_ Callamastia in all but name. Chloe loved smashing things, so the barbarian suited her really well.

Chloe joined Elamon on his journey, campaigning through dangerous lands under the supervision of their DM - Steph - who was more than happy to throw them into perilous situations again and again, always keeping them on their feet but ensuring they were having fun, progressing, resting when they needed to.

Steph was amazing - an amazing DM, that is.

Again and again, Chloe joined in on their campaigns. Okay. She  _did_ become a regular at that point, but she’d be damned if somebody called her a nerd. She still looked dangerous, still talked dangerously when she wanted to, and generally gave off the same attitude as before. Chloe was  _not_ a nerd.

But she changed around Steph and Mikey. Steph in particular.

But she didn’t know how to… talk to Steph about her… feelings? Were they feelings? The flutter in her stomach whenever she saw her, the blush that graced her cheeks everytime Steph smiled at her from afar, the glimpses they shared sometimes?

Okay. They were feelings - Chloe was totally crushing on Steph and she didn’t know how to act on it. Again, she proved to be chickenshit.

Then, one day during a dangerous campaign through some treacherous ruins in the search of an old, powerful artifact, Chloe realised.

Steph wears beanies.

Holy shit!

Chloe got an idea and it was totally going to work, somehow anyway.

* * *

 

“Hey Chloe,” Mikey said and yawned a bit, stretching as he sat himself down on their regular bench in the Blackwell courtyard. Within moments, his character sheet and figure were out and ready for Steph.

“Hey Chloe,” Steph muttered, looking up from behind the DM screen. “Glad you could-”

Chloe grinned and put her hands on her hips, lifting her chin up a bit and to the side - showing off her brand new  _beanie._ It was dark blue and completely devoid of any sort of markings - sticking close to her head, though letting her relatively short hair fall out of the sides.

“Wow, digging the look,” Steph remarked with a quiet chuckle. “Didn’t realise you liked beanies.”

“Oh, y’know,” Chloe uttered and gave her a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s near October, right? Shit gets cold and... beanies are nice, so I dug out my old one from the closet.”

Steph nodded quietly, looking at Chloe - her beanie in particular. She didn’t find it in her heart to tell Chloe the price tag was still off on the side.

Neither did Mikey, who simply stared at Steph, then Chloe, then Steph. Quickly, he realised, but didn’t comment - he’d tease Steph about this later.

“Alright, well… have you remembered your character sheet this time?” Steph asked, setting everything up on her side. “Also no - you can’t make one again.”

Chloe snickered as she sat down. “Don’t worry about it - I got it right here.”

With everything ready, Steph began the campaign - though through its entirety, she shot looks at Chloe. In turn, Chloe shot looks at her - but  _only_ when she was too busy staring at her DM screen because - damn it - Chloe couldn’t help her blushes sometimes and she refused to be seen with a blush. She blamed it on the cold.

Goddamn October winds and shit. Yeah. That was the cause of her blushes, not Steph. Totally.

By the end however, they all had fun again - despite the damn October cold.

“Chloe?” Steph said as she was clearing up the board.

Chloe turned her head towards Steph as she was packing away her character sheet, nodding. “Yup?”

Steph smirked a bit and leaned over towards her. Extending her hand, she reached up and-

-snatched the price tag off of Chloe’s beanie.

“Old beanie, huh?” Steph teased, turning the price tag in her fingers. “I dig it anyway.”

Chloe was left speechless as Steph left for her classes, feeling like an utter idiot for the rest of the day.

* * *

 

Chloe’s beanie collection grew. Red beanies? Check. Grey beanies? Check. Black beanies? Check. Different shade of blue beanies? Check, Check, Check.

With every new beanie bought, she couldn’t resist the temptation to wear it into school the following day - showing it off to both to Mikey, but also Steph. Most importantly showing it off to Steph.

It was… a weird thing to show off, kinda quirky - but Chloe didn’t care, and neither did Mikey nor Steph. Mikey was kinda dismissive of it at one point, but Steph always commented and she always gave Chloe the biggest smile possible when she talked about it. Weird.

At this point, she wore beanies religiously not _just_ because of Steph, but because they were legitimately comfortable. But she wore them  _mostly_ because of Steph.

* * *

 

After yet another long and arduous campaign, the group were left with clearing up the board as usual. Mikey was the first - his figure and character sheet already all packed up by the time Chloe and Steph had even managed to stand up to  _stretch,_ nevermind clear up after themselves.

“I’ll see you two later,” Mikey mumbled out and left for the main building, disappearing only moments later into the usual morning crowd bustling through the main doors.  
  
Chloe gave him a raised eyebrow and glanced briefly at Steph. “What’s up with Mikey?” she asked quietly. Mikey was never so quick to leave them in the mornings, so it was a bit weird.

Steph shrugged as she watched Mikey disappear into the crowds. “He’s just a bit distracted I guess. I wouldn’t think too much about it, Mikey would say something if things were wrong,” she spoke in Chloe’s direction before looking at her and letting a small smile form. “Anyway. Mind helping me today?”

Sharing a quick look, Chloe nodded and managed her own brief smile before looking down at the board and suppressing her blush. “Sure, I’m not about to leave you to clear up this mess,” she murmured and chuckled.

One-on-one situations with Steph were far and few between - especially with Mikey always sticking to her side - but whenever they came up, Chloe couldn’t help but internally panic slightly.

“Hey, you okay? You’re spacing a bit,” Steph claimed as she leaned over the table and looked up at Chloe. “Still a bit salty over the campaign?” she teased, chuckling quietly as she leaned right back and began clearing up the DM’s items.

“I am  _not…_ salty,” Chloe shot back and laughed, shaking her head. Her hand reached up to grab her beanie, taking it off for just a brief moment to correct it. “It’s totally cool. Seriously Steph, I enjoyed it,” she admitted truthfully, glancing up to look at her.

Steph looked up herself, sharing a gaze with Chloe again. They kept at it for a few moments before they both smiled and chuckled again, glancing right back down at the mess on the table. “Right. Glad you did, it was one of my new ones.”

Silence.

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked up at Steph again.

Steph looked back up at Chloe.

“So, let's get to cleaning, hm?” Steph said and smiled, immediately dropping her eyes back to the table and beginning to tidy away. She couldn’t lie, her own heart had increased it’s pace slightly - it had done so for the past few weeks, ever since Chloe had started hanging around with them, but now it was far more common.

Humming in agreement, Chloe fell into silence as she helped Steph.

It took a few minutes, and a few awkward glances and unexchanged words where both their mouths just hung open, the words failing to come to them, but eventually -  _thankfully_ \- they managed to clean everything up. Chloe gave Steph a look before focusing on her bag - putting away her things, zipping it up-

“Uhm. Hey, Chloe?” Steph asked - her voice much closer than it was previously.

Turning around, Chloe’s eyes widened as she now found Steph only a foot or so away from her - staring up slightly. Chloe was rather tall for her age, though Steph was relatively close to her height anyway. “Oh. U-uh…” Chloe stuttered out, finding herself short of breath so suddenly because  _holy shit-_

“I noticed something about your… sudden addition to your style,” Steph said quietly as she looked at Chloe, smiling gently - her hands crossed over her own front as she hooked her fingers together, almost awkwardly. “Your beanies?”

Chloe gulped and nodded, her jaw agape yet again. “Y-yeah?”

“They’re not… really for the cold, are they?”

Well. Shit.

“Uh…” Chloe trailed off, eyes wide as she focused on Steph. Reaching her hand up to her beanie, she scratched at her head beneath it - trying to find some way to reply, to not make a fool of herself because her heart was beating like  _a fucking hammer_ against her chest, Steph’s close proximity giving her the chance to see just how  _cute_ she was-

“...have you been trying to impress me?” Steph teased in a whisper, her hands drifting down to catch Chloe’s before they got away behind her back. She smiled as she felt Chloe stop resisting the moment her soft hands took a hold of them, pulling them in between them.

Chloe could fucking swear she was mesmerised. She wanted to move but she couldn’t. Steph was… something else.

“I… uh… I h-haven’t… I d-don’t know what you’re talking a-about…” Chloe managed to stutter out, receiving an almost reassuring squeeze from Steph. God, her hands were so soft-

“You don’t?” Steph whispered, tilting herself up slightly.

“I…” Chloe trailed off yet again, words lost in the back of her throat as her mouth hung open completely - her cheeks blazing with a fire almost. Her eyes darted between Steph’s eyes and her lips because -  _wow_ \- Steph had some nice lips that Chloe hadn’t quite noticed before-

Steph bit said lips and looked around them. Most of the students had cleared out by now, save for a few stray groups that were ignoring Steph and Chloe - nothing new there.

Pulling herself up gently on her tiptoes just a tad, she moved closer to Chloe until-

-their lips met in the middle and-

-Chloe was kissing her back - it was clumsy and awkward because she was surprised-

-but Steph giggled quietly and slowed her roll, showing her the way-

-so Chloe followed her lead, simply brushing their lips together.

Only a few brief moments later, Steph pulled back and Chloe stood there - mouth hanging open still but her lips now holding the lingering taste of Steph. She felt her hands receive another squeeze.

Collecting herself, Chloe squeezed her hands back. “U-uhm. If I admit to trying to impress you, will I get another kiss?” she managed to tease, quickly turning her lips to a smirk - a victorious, proud smirk.

Steph giggled softly and tiptoed up again, pushing into another, gentle kiss - much shorter than the last however. “How about that?” she asked in a whisper as they broke away.

Chloe had yet again hung her mouth open, but was quick to change it to a large, shit-eating, toothy grin. Pulling one hand away, she rubbed the back of her head, feeling the sudden wave of euphoria wash over her as she realised that-

-wow. Steph  _kissed_ her and… Chloe kissed her right  _back._

She couldn’t really deny the fact she was _pretty fucking gay_ for Steph anymore.

“Y-yeah. That was nice,” she admitted quietly, dropping her hand back down - her cheeks still aflame with the rosy blush, but it was a blush she was willing to display.

Sharing another smile with her, Steph gave her hands a squeeze and let go - whipping around and walking over to grab her own bag. She smiled to herself, one hand absently drifting to graze her fingers over her lips - Steph’s small burst of confidence paid off.

“H-hey, Steph?”

Looking over her shoulder, Steph saw Chloe still standing in her spot - her hand still scratching the back of her head. She looked adorable when she was lost for words.

“What does… w-what, uhm, are we…?”

Steph rolled her eyes and threw one strap of her backpack over her shoulder, walking up to Chloe. Grabbing her hand, she rubbed soft circles over the back of it - focusing on Chloe’s deep blue, ocean-like eyes. “What do you want it to mean?”

Chloe gaped her mouth open again.

Holy shit, she needed to stop doing that - but she couldn’t help it, not with Steph around.

Gathering up her own confidence, Chloe gulped and stood slightly taller. “Will you, uh… go out with me?” she asked.

Silence.

Chloe’s heart pounded against her chest again, her cheeks ablaze because - fuck - she was being so awkward about this-

“Of course I will,” Steph replied and squeezed their hands.

Well. That dropped a fucking boulder off of Chloe’s shoulders.

With a dorky smile, Chloe reached up and gently brushed her hand over Steph’s cheek - pushing her hair behind her ear. “Cool,” she whispered as she dropped her hand, shifting on her spot side to side.

Steph laughed, rolled her eyes and then gently shoved Chloe towards her bag still on the bench. “Go and grab your bag, you have classes and so do I,” she murmured and turned around - making her way for the school building.

Chloe watched and watched and watched as Steph began to walk away further and further-

-so she quickly scrambled to grab her own bag, throw it over her shoulder and then jogging over to Steph, falling into an immediate rhythm beside her - glancing down at her with a wide, content smile. Her heartbeat had stopped it’s pounding, but still kept a rather quick pace, and her cheeks weren’t quite as rosy as before, but they still were.

Rolling her head slightly, Chloe tilted it away from Steph, took in a breath and then gently slipped her hand down between them - fumbling around before grabbing Steph’s.

Momentarily, she felt Steph squeeze their hands together and give Chloe a soft look - her lips curling into a smile, one that caused Chloe’s heart to flutter so suddenly.

They walked into the building with their hands held and fingers intertwined - nobody paid them any attention, just how they preferred it.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my gay shit now
> 
> shoutout to Vengesim for giving me this idea a few months back :3
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


End file.
